Your friendly neighbourhood geek

Where can I get free books for my Kindle?

I’ve just been given an Amazon Kindle for my birthday. I’m a student with a pretty tight budget. Is there anywhere I can get free books from?

Many Kindle and Nook owners will agree: having an e-reader makes you read more. The problem is that e-books aren’t cheap–in fact, they don’t cost much less than their hard-copy counterparts.

Luckily, the Internet is pretty good at making otherwise expensive things free. We scoured the Web and found a few different options for finding free e-books for your Kindle or Nook.

1. Search for “0.00.” This is the oldest trick in the book (pun intended). Simply go to the Barnes and Noble bookstore or the Kindle bookstore and search for “0.00.” Your results will yield dozens of free books available for direct download to your device.

2. Swap books with strangers. Some books are equipped with a “lending” feature. Amazon and B&N probably intended that lending would be used among friends, but clever Web sites like BookLending.com and eBookFling.comlet users list their e-books and swap inventory with anyone else. You’ll find anything from books on beetles to ones on riding helmets.

3. Check out e-books from the library. Ancient as they may seem, libraries are on trend and offer e-books using a service called Overdrive. Here’s how to use the service (although the tutorial is intended for Nook owners, the same process applies to Kindle).

4. Find free books online. Many books, especially classics like “Frankenstein,” are available under public domain licensing and have been converted into e-books for your reading pleasure. Other license-free titles available include those published under a Creative Commons license.

There are over 1,000,000 titles available for free, and you can find them in these places: